Chapter Text
Pen inked the pages diligently, efficient strokes painting pages with poise.
[ Fungi Discovery;
Species name: Mycena flavoalba
Common name: Ivory Bonnet
This mushroom fungus was found within the forest, growing next to a fallen tree within the grass. It is white with distinct “gills” on the underside of the cap, shorter stalk in comparison to king trumpets- ]
“Master Tighnari?” a smaller, feminine voice calls to him at the entryway of his room. He flicks his ear at the voice, before turning with a small smile.
“Yes, Collei? What do you need?” Tighnari’s posture relaxed, slinking his arm over the back of the chair to perch more comfortably while addressing her.
Collei was similar to the other forest trainees, but even then, she was more than that. She was able to handle herself perfectly fine— some days when it takes her longer than expected to return from a patrol, Tighnari has to fight his instincts to go out to find her. He’s always worried about her well-being, especially to the point she scolds him in jest with ‘ you don’t need to kick up a fuss over me, you know? ’
Of course, that much was true. He battles the flood of anxiety that courses through his body every time he doesn’t know the status of Collei’s condition – he always keeps tabs on her eleazar, making sure it hasn’t progressed further.
Collei fidgets her hands for a moment, “I thought I’d let you know I organized the logs from the other rangers today. You don’t need to worry about that.”
His tail wags for a brief moment. “Thank you, I appreciate it.”
“Is there anything else you’d like me to do?”
He ponders for a moment; what could she do? Hazel eyes trail over to a smaller box covered with a towel, “You can help treat the injured dusk bird, if you’d like.”
“When did we get that one in?” Her tone carried a wave of pity for the animal.
“Earlier today,” he gets up to grab the box, carefully moving it to a nearby table, “Poor scrap has an injury to its eye. Nothing major, but it needs antibiotics and eye drops applied to make sure it heals.”
“I can do that!” Collei excitedly (and yet slightly clumsily) walks to gather the medicines from the storage cabinets across the room, and Tighnari turns to sit back down at his desk to finish his entry.
[ The taste of Ivory Bonnet is nothing terribly special; no distinct flavor other than a hint of radish? Medicinal use needs to be explored, but low priority on the list currently. ]
He lets the ink dry as he rises from his seat, with Collei just finishing up with the dusk bird’s treatment. She’s come a long way since she arrived at Gandharva Vale — once a timid, traumatized child — now, she grew into a strong individual, someone determined to do the best she can despite her past.
To just say he’s proud of her is an extreme understatement. He sees her as just more than a trainee, he sees her as family. Tighnari’s heart carried affection for the young girl, knowing her plight up until now, where she can rest easy knowing she’s got a home where she’s loved. Safe. However, her wounds and illness still affect her no matter how much she tries to not let them — he keys in on the small signs that the green-haired girl tries to hide from him, knowing when flare-ups happen. He’s learned over time ways to combat this, often coming up with sneaky ways to help her during these times — he senses she knows what he’s doing, but she doesn’t speak on it. Tighnari guessed it was still her not wanting to “burden” him and the other rangers, which he found ludicrous.
Tighnari was charismatic, but he doesn’t like getting close to others for many reasons. He trusts people to get things done. Workplace trust is something he’s able to give out, but personal relationships dwindle to small numbers in comparison. Collei is someone he trusts with his full being, knowing her these years and watching her grow into who she is now brings joy to him; to say they were particularly close isn’t incorrect.
Usually if you saw one, the other wasn’t far behind. That was common knowledge amongst the Forest Rangers.
Suddenly, a red vulture swoops into the room, knocking around clumsily before landing on Tighnari’s head and nibbling at his ears. He grabs the bird in a football-esque hold, placing it over on his desk. His ears flattened at the sensation of the strong force of the bird on his ears — vultures were always too bitey for his taste.
His eyes capture the paper snugly tied to the avian’s leg, efficiently removing the page to read it.
[ Hey ‘Nari and Collei,
I’m on my way there now. Probably will be there in the next couple hours, based on how fast Red flies over. I got new jokes ready for you all too ;)
Missed you both. See ya soon.
-Cyno ]
He flicks his tail in slight annoyance — the sudden change in plans was always something Tighnari could handle, but he wanted to get some things done tonight. At the same time, Tighnari was excited to see Cyno again. It’s been a few weeks since the last visit by the General Mahamantra, so correspondence through letters has been the norm as of late. Seeing Cyno’s face would soothe Tighnari’s worries about how the white-haired individual was doing out in the harsh desert, even though Cyno was used to the dangers in the environment – just like how Tighnari knows the dangers of the forest. The duo were opposites, yet they got along more than what the public eye would expect.
“Is that Cyno’s vulture?” Collei still has her hands covering her head from when the bird nearly smacked her upon its dramatic entrance.
“Yeah,” he states, giving the bird a little scratch on the chin before withdrawing his hand as the vulture gives a playful nip. Yep. Definitely Cyno’s , he comments to himself.
“Cyno’s on his way right now. ‘Says he’s a few hours out,” he crosses his arms and seems a bit frustrated, but can’t stop his tail from wagging slightly when bringing up the other man. No matter what he tries, his tail and ears don’t always match up to how he wants to be perceived.
In the end, he guesses it doesn’t matter, since it’s just Collei here. She knows he has been looking forward to his next visit — just to make sure he’s safe and sound, of course.
“Ah, I wish he would’ve told us sooner,” Collei frantically starts to get herself sorted and stops just part ways out the door, “I’ve gotta get ready. Tell him I’ll be back soon, yeah?” She doesn’t even wait for a response before she’s out of sight.
Tighnari exhales an amused sigh. Collei never changes. Not that he can blame her for still being more timid of the General, given the sealing process was an extremely painful process. He was shocked too upon hearing she lived through that process, but he definitely was happy to have her under his wing.
He picks up the box with the dusk bird in it and places it back to its former place on the corner of his desk, closing the journal that had finished drying. The dusk bird chirps at him as he covers up the top of the box with the small towel.
Tighnari reaches for the clipboard to document how the treatment of the rescued animal has been, highlighting improvements and medicine administration — it wasn’t an uncommon case that forest rangers have to take in and rehabilitate wildlife, but it still was a process that needed to be filed. Why don’t they have designated rehabilitators besides him and Collei? He scribbles a note to himself to train others who are willing to take on that position.
He turns to Cyno’s vulture, reaching over to grab a small mouse and hands it to the bird, who takes it gently.
“Good bird, Red,” he scritches the bird on its cheek before going to his medicine cabinet to re-organize. He’s gotta get things done before Cyno arrives.